1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an automotive suspension and more specifically to a suspension in which one of the links or members of each of the arrangements which supports a road wheel is variable in length to enable steering of the wheel associated therewith.
2. Background of the Invention
In a previously proposed arrangement such as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, the rear wheels 1 of a vehicle are supported on a live or rigid axle 2 via knuckle rods 3 which are interconnected by a tie rod 4. A servo cylinder 5 operated by either compressed air or hydraulic fluid is connected to one of the knuckle rods 3 in a manner to turn the wheels 1 and steer same in response to the lateral acceleration of the vehicle and compensate for the inevitable compliance steer phenomenon permitted by the elastomeric nature of the bushes and elements included in the suspension to damp vibration.
However, this arrangement has suffered from the drawbacks that each of the rear wheels must be pivotally mounted on a king pin or the like in a manner similar to the front wheels, which markedly increases the cost and weight of the vehicle and further imposes notable design limitations on the rear suspension.
A detailed description of the above described arrangement can be found in Japanese Utility Model Patent Application Pre Publication No. Sho 55-147968.